Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a Bollywood crime comedy film, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bidita Bag and directed by Kushan Nandy. The film has been produced by Kiran Shyam Shroff and Ashmith Kunder. The music for this film has been given (five out of six songs) by Gaurav Dagaonkar, a composer we hear in Bollywood quite infrequently. The last time we heard him was in ‘Wah Taj’ when he made a song that nobody heard again. Before that though, he had given some good music for ‘Heartless’ (2014), and ‘Kaafirana’ (Joker; 2012). Hopefully since he’s in charge of the major chunk of the album here, he will do his best. The guest composers are a debutant duo named Abhilash-Joel, who have worked on a scratch composition by Debojyoti Mishra, and built their song around it. Hopefully, they make a great debut! So let’s jump into this bandookbaaz album and hope it is sangeetbaaz!!

1. Barfani (Male) / Barfani (Female)

Gaurav Dagaonkar starts off this album with a delightfully haunting (What an oxymoron) classical number, based on raag jog. The composer really pleasantly surprised me with his amazing command over classical notes. The way his notes have come out in such a mellifluous manner, is commendable. The mukhda is an instantly gripping portion, and the hook, ‘jal jaane do‘, is what gives you the goosebumps. The antara, in the ideal way that classical songs usually go, follows a more happy-sounding route, and it contrasts very well with that haunting mukhda. The composition reminds you of many 90s songs, when Bollywood music was so heavily inspired by traditional classical music. The lyrics by Ghalib Asad Bhopali are quite intense, and do justice to the song’s theme quite perfectly. The word ‘barfani‘, is a word I’m hearing for the first time in a Bollywood song in recent years! The song is presented in two versions, male and female — both with the same haunting arrangements, thanks to a wonderful beat given by the jingle bells (ghungroo), and a very beautiful play of the guitars and the Dobro (Shomu Seal) which give a very sitar-ish sound. The male version is sung with impeccable finesse, by Armaan Malik, and I believe this is his first such song, which is so heavily based on classical music. He handles the song beautifully, in the lower octaves, and I believe it is his career’s best performance, solely because he tries something new! Orunima Bhattacharya is in charge of the other version, and she takes up a higher pitch, and aces it, and you can tell she has been classically trained. A beautiful and haunting romantic song to start off the album!

Rating: 4.5/5 for Male Version, 4.5/5 for Female Version

2. Aye Saiyan

The second song seems like a song that was a residue from the ‘Anaarkali Of Aarah’ album that released earlier this year. It follows the same folksy vibe, as if there’s a dance going on in the village. Gaurav aces the composition, which is essentially a Bhojpuri folk song, but his music makes it more lively and likeable. The same tune is repeated throughout the song, so it does get a bit tedious towards the end, but I guess that’s how the folk song is. The lyrics are funny, if you understand Bhojpuri. The harmonium (Satyajeet Prabhu) leads the way right from the beginning, giving a very fresh vibe to the song, and the sprightly rhythm and percussions (Satyajeet Jamsandekar) is enjoyable as well! There are amazing dholaks that give the song a rhythm to which you can nod your head! The vocals by Orunima are great here as well, and she showcases her versatility in this song, which is so different from the first one! Vivek Naik has a short interruption, which disturbs more than sounds good. A fun and cute folksy number!

Rating: 3.5/5

3. Ghungta

Here comes another remake, and this time, it’s incorporated into an item song. But before we apply our judgements to that sentence, let’s listen to the song with an open mind. Because when I did that, I really enjoyed the song, thanks to Gaurav Dagaonkar’s enjoyable music, and Neha Kakkar’s very energetic vocals! The song is the remake of R.D. Burman’s ‘Haye Re Haye Tera Ghungta’ (Dhongi), and what I liked is that the only part taken from the old song is the hook. The only difference is that the girl is singing ‘mera ghungta‘ instead of the boys singing ‘tera ghungta‘. The rest of the composition goes well with that hook, and especially the antara is very catchy, and has a trademark Panchamda touch to it. The arrangements are just as lively, with the signature Maharashtrian dhol-taasha rhythm backing it. But amazing guitars (Arvind Haldipur) welcome the listeners into the antara, and that makes the antara sound even more enticing. The vocals are something that propel the song to heights that might not have been touched, had the singer been different, or if Neha Kakkar had sung even a little bit lifelessly. However, her rendition is lively, and she proves again how much energy her voice has. Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s lyrics are very typical to this genre. One of the better of such songs to release this year.

Rating: 3.5/5

4. Chulbuli

The retro vibe kicks in with the next song, a naughty, mischievous number with a very retro tune. Gaurav Dagaonkar has composed it very well, and right from the opening harmonium bar, you know you are in for a treat. The composer has created a nice vaudevillian-esque tune, resembling the musical style that was prominent in the 50s. The tune of the Mukhda is amazing, and gets you gripped there itself. The lilt of the song is increased by the tempo and the beats. The Antara is irresistible, again having a very retro tune. The arrangements are beautiful; surprisingly, they’re a little less retro-esque. The European touch is high in them, with the accordions, mandolins and chimes being most prominent. However, to balance this old-school vibe, Gaurav throws in a number of wonderful things like electric guitars, drums and brass instruments. The vocals are mellifluous, and what can you expect other than mellifluous when it is the genius Papon behind the mic? His voice is so magnetic, you just can’t pay attention to anything else. Vivek Hariharan joins him in backing vocals. His rendition reminds me of ‘Labon Ka Karobaar’ (Befikre), and so do the arrangements, now that I think of it. Ghalib’s lyrics are great and fun! The best song of the album yet!!

Rating: 4.5/5

5. Khali Khali

Singers ~ Mohit Chauhan, Music by ~ Debojyoti Mishra & Abhilash-Joel

The debutants Abhilash Lakra and Joel Dubba step in for this song, and they are in charge of a melancholic number, that haunts your soul. The composition is very haunting, and has been composed with such notes, that are sure to make you emotional, and frightened at the same time. The pace is very slow, aptly so. The problem arises in the Antara, where the song gets into the Bhatt mode, and as the listener, I started to zone out. And the way it runs after that is very tedious. The duo tries to make up for that with mysterious arrangements, but that too, sounds maudlin. There are amazing strings though, all throughout the song, and even the percussions are great. Mohit Chauhan sounds good, but doesn’t manage to keep our interest in the song. The lyrics are good, again. Not very impressive of a debut.

Rating: 2.5/5

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a pretty surprisingly good album! I was expecting very little from it before the first song came out. After that came out I started hoping for a little more, and the makers just gave more and more after that! Gaurav Dagaonkar finally gives an album that he can be proud of for ages — with Indian classical, folk, European music that proves his versatility. The debutant duo Abhilash-Joel do disappoint relatively, but show promise in their great sense of composition and arrangements. That makes this a quite sangeetbaaz album!!

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